The Ways of the old
by triton1995
Summary: The World of Naruto isn't really filled with ninja, just people who jump from tree to tree throwing fire balls and clashing with ancient all powerful mystical swords and knives.  Watch as Naruto learns the way of the ancient ninja. Advenure/Drama/Romance.
1. Chapter 1 Kicken it Old School

**The Ways of the Old**

**AN: The reason I've decided to kick off with this is simple, the Naruto world as it is now, is in no way, shape or form, have any true ninja, the closest would propably be the ANBU Black Ops and even that is a far stretch. So on that I have, decided in my brilliant mind, to remind people what a REAL ninja is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto related products. However any OCs are mine and mine alone.**

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><p>Twas' a beautiful night in the village of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. The moon seemed to be three times its usual size, setting a very romantic feeling for the villagers beneath it. The happiness of the village was paramount, people were eating, going out on the town, children are being tucked into bed, and the horrid screams of a small child just outside the village are almost completely unheard.<p>

...Wait a minute

The sickening sound of bladed objects tearing into soft flesh is heard, accompanied by a shrill scream of a hoarse and drained throat. The child, almost no older than the age of four whos sun-kissed blonde hair is matted with blood, continued to scream, even as a large hand covered his mouth. This large hand belongs to a man just entering his early forties, and goes by the name Kane. This is not his real name, just a template to strike fear into his enemies and respect among his band of bandits. He was no scholar however, as he had deduced within his small brain that a child in a small burlap sac, which served as his only clothing, had some amount of money on him.

"Now I'm going to ask this three times, by the third time I better have money in my hands" whispered Kane into the poor childs ear. The boy tried to find the strength to respond, but couldn't as the sick man twisted the blade in his thigh, "Where is your money?" screamed Kane.

"I don't have any!" screamed the pained boy. This did little to deter the man however has he removed the knife, and proceeded to stab the childs other thigh, almost to the bone. This was not an accomplishment of great strength however, as the boy was extremely malnourished. "Where is your money" Kane asked for the second time. "Hey er, boss?" said one of the five bandits behind Kane, "What?" yelled Kane as he removed the knife looking over his shoulder. "What if the kid doesn't really have any money?" spoke the bandit. Kane chuckled and then in a fast motion, slit the bandits throat. "Anyone else want to play twenty questions?" asked Kane to his men. His was response was silence, however not from fear, but from the silence of dead men.

"What the hell?" Kane expressed turning around, before his whole world went dark.

The child pinned to the tree, both by sharp objects and an assortment of rope however, saw everything. A man, covered almost entirely in black, dropped from a tree, stabbing downwards as he sliced diagonaly through a man from the collarbone to the hip, completly without sound. He then threw five shuriken from one hand, killing the two men through jugular shots closest to Kane, snapping the remaining last man's neck who was in off to the left of him with his free arm, the other extended from his throwing of the shurken. As the man fell before him he laid his eyes on Kane, throwing a senbon into the mans head between the eyes. All of this occured simultaneously, in the course of seven seconds.

There was a silent snap as the ropes that bound the boy were cut, and the weapons that pinned him there were removed. The boy fell forward, the sweet embrace of unconciousness embracing him.

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><p><strong>AN: Hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, know that the chapters that follow will be far longer, now that the exposition is out of the way.<strong>

**Also as for the look of the ninja that saved the boy, think of the stereotypical ninja garb. Really nothing special, as stated before theres going to be some old school introduced into the standard world of Naruto.**

**Please Review.**


	2. Chapter 2 The sleeper awakens, First Day

**The Ways of the Old Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto related products. However OCs are mine.**

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><p>The child awoke, sweating and attempting to gain his bearings. He looked around, taking in his environment, noticing the only light was by a small fire and the pungent smell of dirt and earth reached his nose. The area was a cave, from what he had gathered as it was cylindrical in shape, with stalagmites and stalagtites alike sprouting from the top and bottom of the cave. He noticed his makeshift bed, made form a combination of leaves, straw, and stickes. He attempted to stand, but his strength failed him and he fell back down.<p>

He decided that it was best to rest, for if he was not dead, then the person who put him there obviously didn't wish his fate to be the former. As he hit the makeshift bed he almost immeadiatly fell back to a, somewhat peaceful sleep. When he next woke the first feeling that hit him was cold. Unbearable, freezing, bonefrosting cold. The boy shot up with a shiver, looking around he noticed he wasn't in the cave anymore, but his own apartment. He noticed that he was in his bedwhich consisted of a torn matress with a towel serving as a comforter. As he once again soaked in his surroundings, he noticed that it was still dark out, thought the sun was starting to rise. So, he hopped out of bed and proceeded to make himself breakfast. He proceded to the cabinet and removed a cup of instant ramen. This was the only sustanance that he had, other than the vegetables that always seemed to appear out of thin air on Sundays, though he would often ignore them in favor of what he considered to be the food of the gods.

His mouth watered in anticipation as the boiling teapot began to whistle after what seemed like an eternity, which was actuallly only three minutes. As he sat down to eat his meal he failed to notice two details, one, the table was set with what appeared to be a banquet, ranging from exotic fruits and vegetables, to eggs and bacon. Two he forget to grab chopsticks to eat his ramen. The latter more important to him the the former he stood up, went to the counter, grabbed chopsticks and began to eat his ramen. The wonderful feeling of eating the noodles however, was denied by an assortment of shuriken slicing through the cup of ramen and his eating utensils. His face written with shock and anger he hit the floor, head covered by his hands expecting a following volley. When there was none, he stood up quickly and surveyed the area with his eyes.

His eyes went all over the room and finally fell upon a figure sitting in the chair opposite to the one he was just in, arm still outstretched from the throw of shuriken. There in the seat was the same black garbed figure from the night before. The boy froze in fear as the man stood up, and began to calmly walk towards the boy. His steps were completly unheard, as if his feet never touched the ground. He stopped in front of the child looking down upon him with cold brown eyes. The boy took notice of this set of eyes before he began to take in the mans appearence. The man was covered from head to toe in what appeared to be stereotypical ninja garb, like the ones in movies.

"I will forgive your rudeness of ignoring the food I have set out for you for that pathetic garbage known as ramen, merely because you have just awakened" spoke the man in a gruff voice. "But if you attempt to make even one more insignificant cup, I will snap you arms like twigs as a lesson." The boy slowly nodded. The man motioned his hand in the direction of the table, "Now, will you care to join me for breakfast?" The boy once again nodded and proceeded to the table. The boy, now in his seat, took notice of the mouth watering food, and dug in like an animal who hadn't eaten anything substantial in weeks. This wasn't that far from the truth however, as he really hadn't. About half way though his tenth bite the chopsticks he had be using where suddenly ripped from his hand by a flying kunai knife. The boy was dumbstruck as the man across the table stood up and walked over to his side of the table, promptly kicked the chair out from under the boy and set the childs plate on the floor.

"If you are going to eat like a mannerless animal, the you will assume the posture and dining place of a mannerless animal." spoke the man, distaste dripping from his mask covered lips. The poor child hadn't realized what he had done wrong, so like any child his age he began to cry. However the man did not even bat an eye at the child and returned to his seat. After about ten minutes the man stood up, strangely having not even eaten and walked over to the still crying boy. The man looked into the puffy blue eyes, and walked out of the apartment. The boy, after another twelve minutes, stood up and walked to the still open door and shut it, a single thought still ringing through his head...

_'What the hell just happened?'_

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><p>(Timeskip Three Years Later)<p>

_beep,beep,beep,be- _SMASH

The boy awoke, rubbing his now busted hand and observing his now busted clock. He got out of bed and began his normal morning routine. He grabbed a carrot, an apple, and a couple pieces of toast. The boy was far healthier than he was three years ago, having finally grown a few inches' due to a swift change in diet. The man's earlier warning, even though three years old, still rang in his head. He hadn't had any instant ramen since that day, even though the man had disappeared, he opted to be better safe than sorry. As he finished his breakfast he continued with the routine, a shower after breakfast, followed by brushing his teeth and then finally getting dressed in his orange jumpsuit. As he finished his routine he noticed his kitchen clock, 8:01 A.M. a full hour and minute after the academy began its lessons. He paled slightly, then broke into a sprint towards the ninja school.

As he neared the academy, he failed to notice the melon cart that abruptly entered his field of vision.

_Crash!_

Now not only was he late, he was being chased by an angry villager, covered in watermelon juice, and was beeing laughed at by the entire class for the instructor had decided to start the new class off with kunai knife training. The instructor sighed, grabbed the blonde haired child and put him in front of the class. Now not only was this the poor childs first day, he had to introduce himself, covered in fruit juice, now an hour and a half late, with an angry villager shouting curses at him.

"Would you please introduce your self young man." spoke the instructor.

"Yes sir," spoke the boy and turned himself to the twenty seven students in infront of him.

"H-hello, my name is Naruto Uzumaki" spoke the boy.

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><p><strong>AN: Just realized that I had yet to say that the boy was Naruto, wierd.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3 Torture, I mean training

**The Ways of the Old Chapter 3.**

**AN: Now with enhanced dialogue!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto related products. All OCs are mine however.**

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><p>(Timeskip About halfway through the school year.)<p>

Twas a beuatiful evening in Konoha, the sun was setting, but was not quite there yet. It was in the early stages of Fall, the leaves were a symphony of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. Even at this hour the village still buzzed with activity, for the vendors didn't really stop selling wares until nightfall and even then there were still a few holdouts. It is within this setting that we join a child, an orange jumpsuit clad Naruto Uzumaki, at the training grounds of Konoha's ninja academy. Naruto was at the bottom of the class, for he was still stuck on basic kunai training, whilst the others have moved on. Because of this, he was left with a private tutor, by the name of Mizuki. The instructor was to constantly monitor his progress after school hours, trying to get him to finally achieve a bullseye.

Naruto was angry, and rightfully so. Many of the children had already hit the bullseye months before him. _Hell, the Uchiha had done it on his first try _thought Naruto in an annoyed tone. Though something seemed off to him. Every time he would get close to hitting the bullseye, Mizuki would tell him he had done something wrong, and to revert to what his sensei had taught him. This was tiresome as when he did, he would get nowhere near the center of the target.

"Hey Naruto, its getting late, you should go home." Spoke his teacher.

"But I haven't hit the center yet, Mizuki-sensei, can we stay out for a little bit longer?" Asked the frustrated boy

"Sorry Naruto, but I can't, I have a date tonight and I can't miss that, I'm sorry." Mizuki said in a saddened tone. In truth Mizuki didn't like Naruto, in fact, he despised him. But not for the burden he carries, but for the fact that he hasn't been able to have any time to himself, or with his girlfriend Tsubaki. What he didn't get was that he too was terrible at kunai throwing. In fact the only reason he passed his academy weapons was because he showed an almost unnatural talent for throwing giant shuriken. So, why in the eight rings of hell was he chosen to tutor this kid?

Mizuki had no idea what the hell he was doing, and to add to that he was stubborn. It was either his way, or no way, except when it came to Tsubaki. Then it was her way or the living room couch. Mizuki figured he was saddled with this because of that one mission where his teamate had died. That was one hell of an explanation he had to deal with, his teamate had been hit with some form of exotic poison. Poor bastard tried to claw his own throat out, Mizuki tried to pry his hands off, but he was weak in physical strength at the time, which lead to the guy literaly strangling himself.

Mizuki was disturbed from his thought processes a tugging at his leg. Naruto was giving him the dreaded puppy eyes, the main defense mechanism of children of all ages. Mizuki had no choice but to relent.

Mizuki sighed,"Okay I'll tell you what, I'll let the other instructors know you can train kunai throwing here after hours."

"Really?" Naruto expressed with excitment, he let out a yell and ran back to get his fallen kunai near the target.

"Yes, really, but don't stay out here too late." Mizuki expressed whilst walking away, he didn't want to be sleeping on that damn couch again, the cursed thing was horribly uncomfortable. A good chunk of his paycheck was going into _Mizuki's Fine Leather Couch _fund for that very reason.

As Mizuki disappeared from sight Naruto got back to training. It was around nine o' clock now, the sun has long set, and poor Naruto was still trying just as hard as when he started. At this point he had managed to start actually hitting the target, instead of completely missing and damaging the foliage behind the target. As he threw his last remaining kunai another seemed to come out of the shadows and intercept it. Naruto was shocked, to say the least as a figure emerged from the very same darkness, as silent as the dead, his steps, never making a sound, as he approached the young boy.

"W-Who are you?" the boy asked, voice laden with fear.

"Have you already forgotten those whom you are indebted to, boy?" asked the black garbed man.

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Naruto questioned again.

"Your technique is full of holes, your stance, motions, to the way you hold that blade is wrong, what idiot taught you such folly?" questioned the man in an annoyed tone.

"Wait, I remember yo-" the boy was cut off from his shout by a strong back hand to the face.

"You will show me respect, keep your voice down and listen, in that order boy." commanded the man,"I will not tolerate disrespect from a child."

Naruto was once again shocked beyond belief, no one had struck him in such a way before, not with the notion of requesting, no, demanding respect behind it. He immeadiatly kept his mouth shut.

"Now, take this kunai and throw it at that target's center." the man commanded once again. Naruto grabbed the kunai with a shaking hand and did what the man demanded. The result was the same as before, kunai hitting wood, but nowhere near the target. The man handed the boy another kunai, and Naruto prepared to throw it again, but a strong hand stopped his motion.

"Stop, now how does your stance feel." asked the man. Naruto just stood there to terrified to speak.

"Answer the question boy!" the man demanded.

Naruto responded in a scared voice,"I-it, feels off, like i-it d-doesn't feel natural."

"Good, now try this stance," the man shifted Naruto into a stance lightly bending his knees, straightning out his back, and telling the child to relax.

Naruto, still scared out of his mind, felt much more relaxed, and comfortable in this stance.

"Now throw that kunai into the center of that target." The man commanded once again. Naruto relaxed, and threw the kunai. There was a soft _thunk _and to Naruto's astonishment there the kunai was, lodged dead center in the middle of the target, a perfect bullseye. Naruto looked to his right and there the man stood. The black garbed warrior gave a single nod of approval and spoke.

"Well done, but it could be much better." The man whipped out a kunai and threw it at Naruto's target. It went through Nauto's kunai, the target, and hit the tree behind it with a soft thunk. "That is what I want to see by the end of this month." spoke the man. He then walked into the forest, stopped and motioned Naruto to follow. After a short walk they stopped. He then drew a katana from its sheath on his back, and in a swift motion, sliced through a tree, and then poked it with a finger and the tree feel over with a crash, "That, by the end of six months." Then there were ten more crashes heard, for the trees around him fell down on a circle, he hadn't even moved. "That by the end of a year." declared the man.

"You are Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" The man asked

"Y-yes," spoke Naruto in a still scared voice.

"Good, my name is Hanzo IgaKoga, and you Naruto Uzumaki, are now my student." The man left no room for arguement with that statement.

Naruto, for the first time in his life, got down on his knees, and bowed in respect.

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><p>(Two Months Later.)<p>

Naruto had progessed unbelieveably in the past few months. He had done whatever Hanzo-sensei had told him in training and more, he not only desplayed the power split through the log, but actually keep his accuracy. That didn't mean that the training was without ups and downs. For one thing, it was always at night, starting at eleven and ending at four in the morning. This wreaked havoc on his academics, although his practicality grades had skyrocketed. He was now the top weapons thrower in the class, able to score consecutive bullseyes with his eyes closed, with kunai, shuriken, senbon, and even sharpened rocks he picked up on the way to the practice field. His abilities in both nin and gen jutsu however, showed absolutely no improvement.

His physical appearence had changed as well. He no longer had any orange on his person, he now wore something akin to his sensei, mask and all, except navy blue in color. The sleeves were also removed, though they were not purchased like this. The had become so severly damaged from the intense training that they fell off on their own one day when he was putting his clothes on. This was not necessarily bad, he thought it looked cool, he now had red bands on his wrists, weighted to twenty pounds each, why because his sensei demanded it. Aside from the extra weight he had no trouble. That is, until winter started. Hanzo, however, saw this as a wonderful opportunity to build his endurance in harsh conditions, and forbade him from putting on any warmth giving clothes to cover his arms.

_'At least thats what he said, sensei loves to see me suffer.' _thought Naruto.

This was not enitrely without base, for Naruto's sensei did get amusement seeing his student struggle at times. He would often watch his student train, with a slight, _barely noticable_, up and down movement of Hanzo's shoulders.

_"The more destroyed the body and mind, the stronger it is rebuilt," _he would say. However, Naruto would translate this into, _"I watch you stuggle in training with a smile on my face, and can't wait to increase the sets by tommorow, just to see what it takes for you to break."_

Naruto, couldn't be happier, for now he had learned learned about a quarter of his sensei's hand to hand combat. He was also learned how many ways his arms, legs, spine, neck, and any other part on his body could be bent from Hanzo-sensei's _demonstrations. _If it were not from a combination of his sensei's ability to distill medicine from local flora, and his abnormal healing factor, Naruto was sure he would be paralyzed from the neck down, not from a broken neck, but from his body shutting everything down from the unimaginable pain.

Today however was a special day, for he was going to finally going to be taught the way of the sword. He couldn't wait, he hoped it was a ninjato, for that was practically his dream weapon ever since he saw it in the movies. His hopes were crushed when an elegant katana was presented to him. The katana was simple in design, black wrappings, razor sharp blade, and an average polished wooden sheath. But the one thing strange about it, was the hand guard, it was in the shape of a dragon.

"Whats the matter boy? Theres nothing wrong with the sword." spoke Hanzo

"But, I thought I was getting a ninjato, like in the movies sensei." replied Naruto

Hanzo chuckled, he never chuckled, at least not out loud. He then burst out laughing, he never laughed. This in poor Naruto's mind, did not bode well, for this would most likely lead to more pain. Hanzo stopped laughing, then put on his normal serious look.

"Ninjatos, for lack of a better term, don't exist." spoke the man.

"What do you mean, I've seen them everywhere expecially on those ANBU guys!" yelled the boy. Hanzo gave him a glare, Naruto immediately recognized his mistake, and bowed to his knees.

"You are forgiven, rise my student." said Hanzo, Naruto did as commanded.

"Now to explain, ninjatos never existed before those movies you watched were released, they are a creation of the film industry, nothing more." explained Hanzo.

"But why do those ANBU guys carry it then." questioned Naruto.

"Because they thought the same thing you did, they believed that is a ninja's signiture weapon, why do you think that before the time of the second Hokage, no one used them?" questioned Hanzo.

"Because film wasn't around then?" replied Naruto.

"Exactly, because of film people now associate that weapon with us, so as on a stupid decision made by the council, the ninjato was made the official ANBU weapon." said Hanzo, "But, that is what the number one killer of ANBU is, their own weapon."

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because it is an inferior sword when matched up against the katana," answered Hanzo, "The ninjato is a straight bladed weapon, this limits slashing and cutting power, because there is less momentum in the swing."

"But what makes the katana better?" asked Naruto once again.

"Because the katana is a _curved _weapon," replied Hanzo, "This increases slashing, cutting, and momentum power, all of the ninjatos faults are corrected by a sword thats been around for hundreds of years."

"Wow, thats cool." replied the young boy.

Hanzo merely nodded, "Now let us begin with your training." Naruto, was then slashed across the arms before he finished attaching the sword to his back.

"Lesson one, and cardinal rule number one of the way of the ninja," said Hanzo, "Never. Ever. Let your guard down." Every word was ment with a slash that Naruto barely parried with his newly drawn sword. This continued on in the snow until four o' clock in the morning, when training ended. Naruto was exhausted before Hanzo even finished saying that training was over, he promptly made friends with the snow covered clearing with his face.

Hanzo carried the boy to his apartment, then leapt out into the shadows of the early dawn.

Naruto was awoken to the wonderful sound of his alarm clock, of which he smashed again. He then attempted his morning routine. He went to get a bowl of cerial, he collapsed. He then went to take his shower, he callapsed in there as well. He got on his clothes on, whilst on the floor from collapsing on his way to the dresser. Although it hurt, agonizingly so, one thought never left his head.

Naruto couldn't be happier.

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><p><strong>AN: And so ends another chapter, longest yet. Unfortunetly, this means all chapters have to be as long or longer than this one, otherwise I'll feel like I'm slacking off, and I won't have that.<strong>

**Also for the description of Naruto think Ryu Hayabusa in his arcade picture, but the shoulders tattered. And a lot less muscular. Theres a link on my profile for the sword, so you won't have to use your imaginations for that.**

**Reviews are nice, so please give them.**


	4. The Unfortunate News

**Author's Note: Forgive me, but this story does not satisfy me, therefore it shall be REWRITTEN! (Thunderclap)**

**There are some erks and quirks that will be fixed in the rewrite, which shall be entitled,  Steps in the Darkness.**

**In the rewrite things shall be far better, there will be more blood, violence, gore, and other nice things. Things shall be far more detailed than before, make more sense and better grammer as well.**

**Once again, please forgive me, but I cannot sleep at night knowing that this could be better and it shall.**


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